We are pleased to speak to you today about three topics relating to food banks, street food and an internship in France for a few students.
Let's start with the food banks that will receive a boost from Subway restaurants in Canada. Food bank use has reached an all-time high in Canada, with more than 1.5 million visits in a month last year, a third of which were children.
In an effort to fight child hunger across the country, Subway Canada is launching the fifth annual Everyone Their Lunch Giving Day. The company is pledging to make the largest donation yet, providing 185,000 packets of fresh food this year. For every twelve-inch sandwich sold on June 21, $1 will be donated to support hunger relief initiatives in more than 200 communities across the country.
In partnership with Food Banks Canada, this campaign aims to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to children during the summer when school nutrition programs are interrupted. In 2022, 6.9 million Canadians, including 1.8 million children, lived in food-insecure households, a significant increase from 2021. Subway Canada also launched a design competition called Everyone lunch, inviting Canadians to submit their designs for a chance to be printed on sandwich wrappers and win Subway gift cards. The funds raised through the competition will also be donated to the Everyone his lunch initiative. Participants can send their drawings until June 18th. Finally, Subway Canada introduces the Subway Series, a redesigned menu featuring fifteen chef-created sandwiches, offering a new ordering experience to support the cause.
Let's continue with this news from the official opposition of Montreal, the party Ensemble Montreal, which proposes to relax the regulations concerning food trucks, in order to consider them as a cultural activity. This measure would allow street food truck owners to organize public gastronomic events, which is currently difficult due to the necessary permits. Gaëlle Cerf, vice-president of the Association des restaurateurs de rue du Québec, supports this idea and believes that these events would showcase the different cultures of Montreal and benefit the restaurant sector. About 70% of food trucks are affiliated with restaurants. Ensemble Montréal will table a motion to this effect at the June 12 city council meeting.
Finally, good news for nine students in the Cuisine program at the Center de formation des Bâtisseurs. They will go on a four-week internship in gourmet restaurants in France, more precisely in the Pays de Nay. They will have the opportunity to learn new culinary techniques and discover the local cuisine. The trip was made possible thanks to the collaboration with the professional training center L'Envolée de Montmagny and to fundraising activities. The Bâtisseurs training center encourages those interested to enroll in the Cuisine program to have a similar experience. Details and the application procedure are available at cfbatisseurs.ca/cuisine/.
